UBS Calls Offsides on Broker Who Specializes in Pro Athletes-Source

UBS Wealth Management USA has parted ways with an Atlanta broker who flaunted his high-profile client list of professional athletes but may have withheld information about a client relationship from his employer, according to people familiar with the dismissal.

Bruce D. Smith, who had led a four-person team called The Sports Consulting Group, left the firm abruptly on Tuesday, said the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity. UBS was believed to have been investigating several issues, including a vacation that the 18-year veteran may have taken with a client in violation of company policy, two sources said.

“Smith’s offense was relatively minor and UBS overreacted in firing a long-time and successful FA,” said Rogge Dunn, a Dallas-based lawyer who is representing Smith.

The broker stumbled as a result of a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation of an accounting firm used by one of his clients, Dunn said. Smith was interviewed by the regulator but did not mention the trip he had taken with the client, an oversight that UBS considered cause for dismissal, he said.

A UBS spokeswoman declined to comment on Dunn’s remarks.

Smith’s team, which includes former National Football League Pro Bowl running back Ronnie G. Brown, remains at the firm, a person answering the phone at his old UBS office confirmed. None of the other members are financial advisers, according to the team’s website.

While pro athletes can be attractive clients for financial advisors who are eager to manage large amounts of often newfound wealth, they also present challenges and a disproportionately high amount of complaints about mismanaged funds.

Smith, who began his career with PaineWebber in 1991 and rejoined its successor firm UBS in 2012, provoked one published complaint, a 2012 allegation from an unnamed client of unsuitable investment recommendations and selling away, according to his BrokerCheck history. The $2 million claim was settled for $666,000. Smith commented on his regulatory record that the client was upset by an investment that was promoted by the client’s former college football coach, not by him, and noted that he did not contribute to the settlement.

When Smith joined UBS six-and-a-half years ago from Merrill Lynch, he had $1.95 million in production and was overseeing around $100 million in assets, according to published reports.

His Instagram page features photos of the bespectacled broker with an array of muscled young clients, including Boston Celtics point guard Terry Rozier and Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Allen Hurns.

This guy Ron Edde is part of the problem with the business – he has no morals just looks at Gross Production… the 90s ended a few decades ago dummy. the read through of this and all the other “Plan Bs” that shady Ron comments on is this: the industry has increased its standards of conduct and everyone is expected to follow them. It’s a profession, and if one can’t be trusted to follow policies then they can’t be trusted to run money.. shouldn’t be too hard to digest

@PWJ-FA
I am always amused by people with a demonstrably lower-than-average intelligence quotient who attack someone’s comment using pejorative adjectives and the improper (virtually absent in your case) use of actual logic…especially when they hide behind a moniker that does not reveal their identity. My comment was not based merely on advisor production. The fact is that more advisors are being fired today for infractions that, in the past, would have been dealt with far less harshly than a termination. Some people believe this is part of a grander conspiracy on the part of firms to get rid of expensive, more experienced advisors and replace them with younger, cheaper alternatives. Others think that this is primarily reaction to an increasingly aggressive FINRA willingness to sanction firms for failing to supervise every little action by every employee. I simply said that advisors need to be ready with a Plan B, and that they can’t assume that the rules will not be applied to them just because they’ve been with a firm a long time or because they might be a large producer.

Ron, many of us here in my office get a kick out of your humor and appreciate your insights when we see you quoted. Your reply to PWJ-FA in this story was one of the most eloquent, yet appropriately dismissive rebuttals I’ve ever read. If someone had tried to insult me like that, I’d probably have lashed out and called him a fool, or maybe even worse. You were able to do that without slinging mud. That’s an admirable skill, but I’d stick to your current job and stay out of politics as mudslinging is a requisite skill for that endeavor.

Who are you? Why do you spend so much time on this site sending replies and messages when it seems your job should be to recruit? Do you really think that arguing or blasting stupid “ told ya so” statements gets you more business?? My guess is that you’re frustrated with all the changes in protocol and now you’ve become a troll for sites living with the hope that one day your past will return in all its glory. Get a job, Ron Edde. A real one. Your comments are both sad and telling.

I’d say he doesn’t spend any more time here than you do since you seem to be aware of his messages. I don’t know the guy personally, but I do know he’s placed quite advisors here in my area and I see him quoted quite a bit by the financial sites, so he must be doing pretty well as a recruiter. On the other hand, I haven’t seen you quoted by anyone other than yourself so your qualifications and credibility are the only ones in question here.

Shady Ron: thank you for making my point. The message isn’t “have a Plan B” it’s time to grow up and behave like a professional.. you’ve commented on your Plan B theme for an FA that was termed in part for being hostile toward women in the past. If Members of ISIS were FAs fired for terrorism you’d mindlessly be saying “gotta have a Plan B”. You’re part of the problem with the business. You have no morals. Get with the times

PWJ: I don’t know all the facts behind why any FA is terminated as I am not a party to these events until after the fact. Some people do things that warrant termination. Others are based on mere allegations of wrongdoing and there are always two sides to every story. The point is that everyone should be prepared for things like this, just as they should be prepared in case of any emergency. Your comments related to my “morals” are completely off-point. However, everyone has the right to their own opinion, no matter how ridiculous.

It doesn’t say what his actual AUM was so to call him a con artist is not accurate. My buddy has an 8 figure account with him and is charged under 100bps. So get your facts straight before you make a dumb comment.